Last spring, the U.S. education reform movement got a giant joyous jolt. A series of policy decisions by President Barack Obama and Arne Duncan, the fellow Chicagoan whom Obama tapped to be education secretary, confirmed that the reform movement had realized its dream: the firm support of a Democratic administration. It turned out Obama actually meant what he said in his 2008 campaign rhetoric on the need for new thinking about how to fix schools. It wasn’t just a ploy to win over voters worried about public education.

The Nixon-goes-to-China analogy was precisely applicable. It was much easier for an ardent anti-communist Republican like President Richard Nixon than a dovish Democrat to establish friendly ties with a communist giant known as “Red China” to millions of Americans. A liberal Democrat like President Obama is able to sell the need for profound changes in education much more readily than a conservative from a Republican Party with a history of bad-mouthing public education and even questioning the wisdom of having “government schools.”

The vehicle for selling these changes has been the federal “Race to the Top” program, which makes available $4.35 billion in federal grants to states (starting with round one) as well as school districts (starting with round two) that have adopted the most ambitious reform proposals. The reforms must emphasize accountability for teachers, emphasizing how much student performance improves in their classrooms; accountability for administrators; flexibility for parents to transfer children away from underperforming schools; and ease of creation of charter schools.

Overcoming decades of inertia. an astounding 41 states submitted reform plans, including California. Arguably the single Californian most responsible for getting state laws changed to qualify for the federal funding was Senate Education Chairwoman Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles. California’s application fell short of winning a grant, but the changes Romero engineered remain in place.

Now Romero is learning firsthand that when it comes to school reform in California, no good deed goes unpunished. Her candidacy for state superintendent of public instruction is being undermined by grossly misleading California Teachers Association advertisements, which describe Romero as leading efforts to drive “experienced teachers” out of public schools. On the CTA’s website, Romero is described as “dangerous.” For its part, the California Federation of Teachers is depicting Romero as a tool of “wealthy charter school advocates.”

Meanwhile, the CTA and CFT are mounting a vigorous campaign on behalf of their preferred candidate, Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, a former teacher who snipes at “Race to the Top” and who has long defended the education status quo. The third major candidate in the race, former school superintendent Larry Aceves, shares Torlakson’s establishment views.

Our question: Where is President Obama? Romero could use his help in the June 8 election – and the U.S. education reform movement could use another jolt. That jolt would be provided by electing a committed reformer to be schools chief in the nation’s largest state.